There's No Place Like Home!

RHYS BOWEN: As those of you who follow me on Facebook know ( Hi Joan, Karen etc) I'm writing this from London. I've been in Europe for six weeks. Stayed with SIL at her lovely 14th century manor house, met up with college friends, spent a week in Barcelona and then took a 12 day cruise around the coast of Spain and France. All lovely (except Barcelona was extremely hot and noisy) but I'm ready to come home. I am craving home cooked food without any fancy sauces on it. I'm longing to throw a load in the washer! And I want to see the family again. Six weeks is a long time.

I've seen a lot of fabulous things on this trip, but they were fleeting impressions. Cruises are great because you only have to unpack once and there is a spa onboard and you can find something to eat day and night but they are a little like peeking in through a window at someone else's world. So I'm wondering if my ideal vacation has changed. 

Do I still want to see new places and cram in sightseeing? (Please not another museum!) or would I rather stay put in a beautiful place and just adjust to the rhythm of that community, sit on a porch reading, stroll into a village to buy croissants, sit on a harbor for dinner while watching the boats returning?
That sort of vacation sounds really good to me now. I've already announced to John that next year we're renting a cottage in Provence. Shopping at the market, tasting local wines and time for me to paint and sketch

So how about you, Reds? What is your ideal vacation? Do you still yearn to see new places? Are you feeling frustrated that you haven't done the Silk Road or the Siberian train? Or do you dream of peace, beauty, tranquility and a less frantic lifestyle? Do you now want to return to places you have enjoyed or does it have to be somewhere new? Any bucket list journeys still waiting to be fulfilled?

Me? Right now I'm feeling there is no place like home.

INGRID THOFT: The big dilemma for us is the active (usually tropical) vacation vs. the cultural/sightseeing trip.  We love both, but given that time and money are limited, we have to prioritize.  Some trips are restful and re-energizing; they usually involve physical activity, good food, sleep, and lots of time for reading.  The trips to foreign cities stimulate our brains, but we rarely come home feeling relaxed.  I wouldn’t trade anything for witnessing the chaos of Hanoi and Saigon, but those destinations certainly weren't restful.  Last week, we were in Los Angeles, for a mix of business and pleasure.  We lived there many years ago, so it was a bit of a homecoming.  Rather than rush around to see too many things, we had a little bit of everything:  Seeing old friends, taking a hike in Will Rogers State Park, eating poké  at the beach.  It was wonderful, but now we have a third category of trips to contemplate—the return visit to cities we love!

HALLIE EPHRON: All my travel right now is book related -- which I enjoy but it's work. Still on my bucket list is Alaska, and this summer we're going. Beyond that, I've seen most of the places I've yearned to see, and I hear you Rhys when you describe a few weeks in Provence just living. This year we went to Puerto Rico for a week with our daughters, son-in-law, and two grandkids and I'd love to go back with them and rent a house on the south coast and enjoy PR's Latin rhythms: music, life, food.  Or maybe Provence. Or Tuscany...

LUCY BURDETTE: Both kinds of traveling sounds good, but home does too! The hardest part of staying someplace for a longer period of time is my animals. It might sound silly, but they are senior citizens and I hate to leave them for too long. The first thing I do after choosing place and date is line up the best pet sitters!

As for where...Provence sounds divine. But I have to negotiate with my John, who says it can't be all France all the time. Though we haven't been to Brittany, and that I want to see. Or Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand. And I'd love to go back to Australia--our trip there was spectacular! Next up for us though is the Galapagos, which we decided to treat ourselves on for our 25th wedding anniversary. I'll keep you posted on that!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:   Over the past three weeks, I've flown back and forth from Boston to Toronto, Pittsburgh and to Chicago. After battling the craziness of OHare, I am so happy to be home.-- although I must say my travels were incredibly rewarding and fantastic.
 I've theoretically love to go to Paris for a month, and really live there, just Jonathan and me, and the language and just being there.  But then I'd start thinking… How would I pack? What would I take?  

not the real place--but EXACTLY like

Who would take care of the house? How would I work?   We spent two weeks in Italy, with a week in Tuscany at a revamped 14th century farm, and it was glorious.

 We are also very happy doing nothing on the beach, I must say. But we are also very happy, like right now, at home without any responsibilities for four whole days. (Pretty much no responsibilities, at least.). We are going to movies, and going out to dinner, and hanging out  getting our brains relax.

 There are moments, when I think gosh… I should be traveling the world. So, we will. When we get rested enough to do that.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Rhys, you are a trooper! Six weeks is a long time to be away from home. I start to get homesick at about three weeks, and I think four weeks is about my limit.

There are so many places I have yet to see, and I do love traveling, even the whirlwind of month-long book tours. But what I love even more is going someplace and just settling into the rhythm of life there. I would love to spend a month in Provence or Tuscany, or Paris, or on a narrowboat on the English waterways. And although I get homesick towards the end of three or four weeks in London, I'm never ready to leave!

And I also really like staying home! I am so enjoying this summer, with no travel commitments, no big plans except to write and enjoy the garden and the family. But it is going by much too fast, and come September I'll be traveling again for the autumn. I suppose it's all about finding a balance...

JENN MCKINLAY: I am definitely a go to one place and become one with the locals sort of girl. We have a summer home in Nova Scotia so this is an annual trek (except for this year - sob!) and we hunker in and get in touch with our inner Canadian as we spend our days playing at our house on the Bay of Fundy. When we travel to other locations, it is the same. Instead of ten cities in seven days, I like to go to one place and spend the entire trip getting to know it. My favorite places to date have been London, Florence, and Anna Maria Island but I am always up for seeing more!

RHYS: So, dear Readers... Any dream vacations? New experiences? Saying put? 

The Ultimate REDS Retreat

DEBORAH CROMBIE: My daughter told me over breakfast last week that Julia Child's house in 

Provence was up for sale--for a mere $880,00, from Sotheby's. We drooled over the photos. Here's the photo spread in Conde Nast.

Her kitchen is intact, except for the original stove, which Julia gave to food writer Patricia Wells. The counters were custom built to accommodate her 6' 2" height, and her husband Paul drew outlines for the utensils on the pegboard on the walls. The Childs called the house La Pitchoune, "the little thing." Built on a potato patch on Julia's collaborator Simca Beck's property, it was the place Julia and Paul dreamed of owning one day when they left France for

another diplomatic posting.

There are three bedrooms with en suite bathrooms, an open-plan living dining room, and a swimming pool. But who cares about that? It's all about the kitchen! Can you imagine cooking in Julia Child's kitchen?

So I thought, well, we're all foodies. Surely the REDS could chip in a mere 100K plus small change apiece. I'm sure we could find a way to sleep the seven of us in a three bedroom house. And there is a small cottage on the property, as well.

Imagine the food, and the wine, and the talk, and the plotting that could go on. And maybe even some writing. 

I might have to do my bit of the cooking at the kitchen island, however. I fear the extra-tall counter tops would defeat me...

Ah, well, it's nice to dream. And I think I must reread my copy of My Life in France, one of my favorite books of all time.

In the meantime, I hope whoever does buy Julia's house will live in it and love it with great gusto, as she'd have liked.

READERS, what about you? If funds were no obstacle, would you want to own Julia's house?

REDS ALERT: The winners of Deb Coonts's LUCKY BREAK are:

Elaine N
Mary Sutton
Karen in Ohio
Alyssa
Bonnie Anderson

Email me at deb at deborahcrombie dot com and I'll pass your info along to Deb Coonts. Enjoy!